Isn't it beautiful!  We went to the park for family pictures and they came out great... we hung out a little longer to take a few pictures of our own!

So... family pictures, finding and moving to a new rental home, birthdays, anniversaries, etc... These are and have been happening for the last and few weeks ahead so I'll be trying to pop in every now and then to post as much as I can.  Hope everyone is having a wonderful Autumn!
 
"If things are going untowardly one month, they are sure to mend the next."
~Jane Austen~
 
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Isn't it the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?  I cannot even begin to explain how much joy this new wooden heart spoon that my mother brought as a gift for me brings to me.  I know, I know... I sound silly right?  But I'm completely serious.  I smile every time I see it and as crazy as it sounds I think this spoon symbolizes me and how I feel when I am in my kitchen. 

Love, the earth and all it's elements, making a meal, tasting that meal, bringing together family, charm and magick... I see all of these things when I look at this spoon.  All of those things are what I hope to create and be while I am in my kitchen and in my home. 

Tonight I decided to come up with a chili recipe... I never knew ingredients to chili could cause such a debate!  Beans, no beans, pasta, no pasta, real meat, veggie meat... PHEW!  A friend of mine told me earlier this evening that she believed chili to be a very personal thing and that every person has their own way of making it.  This couldn't be more true. 

So no matter what you call it... we'll call it chili round these parts... my chili was made with love, a touch of magick, and everything else my new wooden spoon brought to the pot.  It was a perfect heartwarming meal in which to initiate my new favorite spoon and I would love to share it with you. 

More Magickal Happenings
Made From Scratch

 
 
Okay so it's quite late and we all have an early wake up tomorrow so I must turn in soon... but I wanted to share an awesome mama idea that I heard from my mommy's group tonight. 

Have you ever found yourself in the middle... or even the beginning.... of an important phone call when your little one, out of nowhere, starts throwing a fit and begging for your attention?  Well tonight someone shared with us that her friend keeps a small container of never before or rarely seen toys hidden away on top of the fridge... and when it's time to take or make an important phone call... out come the new and exciting toys to keep your child's attention!!  This could be used in so many different areas and be of such a great help!!  I just had to share!!

Night night for now!  Tomorrow I think I'll head to the dollar store for our bucket full of special toys!
 
I write tonight with a heavy heart.  My 17 year old nephew's girlfriend, who is also 17, has been diagnosed with cancer today.  That just doesn't seem fair.  My first reaction is anger... but although quite valid I somehow do not feel that is where I should begin.  Hope is the better alternative.  I'm going to muster up all the positive energy I possibly can from the deepest part of who I am and send all of it to her.  I choose to do this because I've done it once before... and let me tell you... it works. 

I have cancer... had cancer... You know I still don't know how to say it.  Isn't it something you technically always "have" even if you're in remission?  Who knows... but since I have to go for yearly check ups and will always and forever have to check "yes" to the C word when filling out medical paperwork... it's something that will always be with me no matter what.  I had just turned 26 when I was diagnosed with Metastatic Papillary Thyroid cancer... basically meaning it had spread to the surrounding lymph nodes in my neck.  I was a whole ten years older than this sweet girl is right now and was diagnosed with a cancer that was far less scary than what she was diagnosed with today... so I do not even begin to compare our situations or even say to her "I understand what you're going through", because I do not.  But what I DO know... is staying positive is part of the cure.  The doctors may not write a script for it nor do they make it part of the treatment plan but they should... in fact... is there someone I can write a letter to about that?  What I'm saying is... half the battle is being in control of where your heart and your mind go... and laughter... I can't say enough about what kinds of things laughter can cure.  I remember sitting in one of the MANY waiting rooms I had to sit in during my treatment... it was a tiny cold room where patients waited in their gowns to be called in for their chest x-ray or CT scan.  At that time it was me and one other woman... she was sitting across from me and I had noticed her shoes... I was about to comment on how comfortable they looked when Tom Hanks' voice in Forrest Gump went through my head when he said... "Those look like comfortable shoes..."  I literally had to put my face in my hands to hide the huge smile that came across my face preempting the bellowing laughter that wanted to escape me.  Thank GOODNESS she was called immediately after that moment and when she left I literally let that laughter out as I sat there all by myself.  Ahh... That... felt... good.  I couldn't wait to tell my sister, who was out in the comfy waiting room waiting for me... we walked down the hallway of this cancer hospital laughing our hearts out.  For a moment I thought... what if this is inappropriate?  But then I saw patient in a wheelchair with her head wrapped in a scarf... staring at us... with the biggest smile on her face.  Our laughter was contagious.

I'm not quite sure who I'm saying all of this too... She doesn't read my blog.  I guess I'm sending my positive energy out into the universe for her.  This is only the beginning and the road will be long and it will be hard.  But I know she will get through it... and I can't help but be glad that she has a boy who is already so much of a man like my nephew by her side. 
 
"If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid."
~ Epictetus

 
So who else is as excited as I am for this month to be here?  This month marks our four year wedding anniversary, our son's birthday, and well... it's just a beautiful month to be outside!!  I've been busy planning my son's birthday part which is Halloween themed of course! :)

Grandma is also coming back into town... YAHOO!!! We are all very excited about that!  It's very late here so I have to keep this short... here is what I'm thinking for a Halloween costume... our baby boy seems to really like it too! 
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